by Judy Martene

Definition

Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.

Physiological Benefits of Meditation

* Deep rest-as measured by decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.

* Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate-two chemicals associated with stress.

* Reduction of free radicals- unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.

* Decreased high blood pressure.

* Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.

* Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.

* Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.

* Decreases the aging process.

* Higher levels of DHEAS in the elderly. An additional sign of youthfulness.
* Lowers oxygen consumption.

* Decreases respiratory rate.

* Increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.

* Helps to build self-confidence.

Psychological Benefits of Meditation

* Increased brain wave coherence.

* Greater creativity.

* Decreased anxiety.

* Decreased depression

* Decreased irritability and moodiness

* Improved learning ability and memory.

* Increased self-actualization.

* Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.

* Increased happiness.

* Increased emotional stability.

* Less emotional agitation in response to experiences or situations

* Increased compassion towards others and empathy

* Fewer and less intense mood swings;

* Increased creativity and self-awareness

* Decrease in chronic and acute anxiety

* Fewer and less intense negative thoughts and emotions.

Music Meditation
Listening to music just naturally brings us into the present moment.

Try singing or playing percussion along with your favorite music. .Any object can be a percussion instrument. Just start tapping! Go to a music based event and enjoy it, you will be engaged in meditation without any effort at all. Music touches every part of us.

Hobby Meditation
As you enjoy your hobby, add the elements of deep breathing, awareness of sensation, and focus on the current moment and you’ll be meditating.

Massage Meditation
Schedule a massage for yourself. As you enjoy the physical sensation, be aware of your breath. You may want to focus on one word such as Peace, Calm, Love, Joy, Happy, or perhaps a sound with no meaning such as Aum. As everyday thoughts enter your mind,take a breath and repeat your words that you have chosen to bring you back to the meditative state

10 Minute Dark, Quiet Room Meditation

Here is a simple and enjoyable 10 minute meditation routine that everyone can add into their day.

• Go into a darkened quiet room and sit in a comfortable position. (chair, floor) Close your eyes.
• Try gently cover your eyes with your hands for a few moments and/or rub your temples. Take a couple of deep yawns.
• Start by taking 10 deep breaths. Hold each for a period of time , count to 5 or 7, or what ever is comfortable for you and then release very slowly.
• After this simply breath normally. Be aware of your breath. Become aware of each part of your body from the tips of your toes all the way up to the top of your head.
• Notice each body part as you go up the body If you come across an area that is sensitive or tense take a minute to deep breathe into that area then go on to the next area. Send an intention of healing to any part that is in need of care.
• Then focus on a simple mantra, any word you choose, Peace, Calm, Love, Joy, Happy, or perhaps a sound with no meaning such as Aum. As everyday thoughts enter your mind,take a breath and repeat your words that you have chosen to bring you back to the meditative state
• At the end open your eyes, do any stretches that feel good, and take a few breaths.
• Feel the magical rejuvenation! 10 minutes go by really fast.
• You can do this as many times a day that you choose.

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Judy Martene is the president and founder of Women Living Well © You can visit Judy, access her free article archive, and find out more about her and her company at www.womenlivingwell.com.

Judy lives in Orangeville, Canada with her two dogs and has her 5 children and 6 grandchildren close by.

]]> http://www.womenlivingwell.com/articles/meditation-101/feed/ 0 http://www.womenlivingwell.com/articles/meditaiton-101/ http://www.womenlivingwell.com/articles/meditaiton-101/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 17:26:14 +0000 Judy http://new.womenlivingwell.com/?p=921 The brain waves of meditators show why they’re healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before.

Physiological Benefits of Meditation

* Deep rest-as measured by decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.
* Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate-two chemicals associated with stress.
* Reduction of free radicals- unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.
* Decreased high blood pressure.
* Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.
* Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.
* Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. This has been very helpful to asthma patients.
* Decreases the aging process.
* Higher levels of DHEAS in the elderly. An additional sign of youthfulness.

Psychological Benefits of Meditation

* Increased brain wave coherence.
* Greater creativity.
* Decreased anxiety.
* Decreased depression
* Decreased irritability and moodiness
* Improved learning ability and memory.
* Increased self-actualization.
* Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
* Increased happiness.
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Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice. They don’t take “no” for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They’ll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Thank you Judy, members and guests for giving me time to tell my story.

Well, they say “things happen for a reason”.

It all started in 2005, Winemakers was in the red

and —- I married the owner!

Winemakers recently moved to a new location and renovated the larger premises…

but it was his business so I stayed away…

until a series of unfortunate events:

my Dad was hospitalized in BC,

Bob’s Mom had a stroke in Florida,

my role at my Consulting company in Toronto was being made redundant,…

and a series of fortunate events:

I took a coaching course, started coaching executives and entrepreneurs

—-I was ready for a transformation!

What do I mean?  I was armed and ready —-

with my consulting expertise from a 10 year career and

fresh new tools from my coaching course to tackle whatever came my way

– and that was Winemakers!

It’s a hobby. It’s a business.  It’s a hobby. It’s a business.

We say “we turned a hobby we love into a business we love”.

Don’t we all love Wine?

So I did it – turned it into a business – profit and loss, revenue – yes with hard numbers.  But, hang on… I’m getting ahead of myself.

Strategize, Quantify, Systematize – maybe you’ve heard the consulting mantra.  Well, I’m here to tell you that it works!  Let’s start with…

STRATEGIZE  – that means mission, vision, values – more consulting mantra!!!

So I dialogued with my partner…. What is our mission (or purpose)?

Let’s see how does this sound?

To serve the community by offering a venue to make wine that suits your taste and your budget, and at the same time provide an experience that is fun, easy and educational.

How about our vision (or goals)?

1. Same all of us – make money!! – provide an income to the owners.
2. Then for our customers, be their first choice in wine making establishments
3. For our staff, be a place where people want to work – just ask Sandra
4. Finally, Make the business ‘franchisable’ (yah, I made up that word!)

– more on that when we get to systematize…

There was a third word after Mission and Vision that often gets forgotten.

That is values (or rules to live by)?

1. Customer orientation – back to the experience!!! (fun, easy, educational)
2. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable. We value honesty, integrity, reliability.
3. We appreciate and reward our customers and staff.  More on that later, if you like.

Now we know who we are, where we are going and some ‘rules’ on how to get there.  That’s a good start!

What’s next in the mantra Strategize, Quantify, Systemitize ?

QUANTIFY…

How do you know you are doing well?

For Winemakers, we watch two pulse points: wine starts and revenue.

wine starts – that’s when customers (like you) come in and make wine.

revenue – that’s the money we collect when you make wine.

This is where the fun starts! With pictures…

I tracked and graphed wine starts and revenue

and reviewed our progress each month.

Here is the good news – wine starts increased by 25% and revenue by 25%.

Some say, “You won’t make money unless you watch the money”.

So I paid attention to the finances diligently and regularly. Now were getting into…SYSTEMITIZE

I examined processes to see what works and what doesn’t work.

The outcome? Some paper based processes were computerized and some are still paper based.

They say the biggest barrier is entrepreneur. He knows how to do everything and we all learn by osmosis!!!

Actually, we have all spent hours with Bob listening and learning about wine, watching how to make wine, reviewing customer questions and answers.

We learned our scripts from the master.

I encouraged Bob to write some of this wisdom and information down and you can find it on our web site  – TheHappyWinemaker.com

Jim was making notes of daily activities, what has to be done on special days… so we typed them up and started an employee handbook.  Now we are more on task and we have a training guide for new staff.

These are all steps towards franchising or setting the business up to replicate or be cloned.

Not because we had those aspirations, but because it is good business practice.

The more is written down, the more consistent the operations are and the less the owners need to supervise.

Success is achieved by ‘baby steps’ – How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

Now I have another 10 minutes of talking to do about analyzing the business, promotional campaigns, and more.

but let’s try something else,

You all have a paper in front of you.  Work together and choose one of your businesses with a ready 30 sec commercial and write it down as your mission.  Then brainstorm what are 3 goals to realize this mission.  Or you can work on your own or in pairs.

If we have time we can look at Values. What are your rules to live by?

Choosing the right container is important. Make sure it is air- and water-tight. It should also be sturdy enough to stay intact while in storage.

Young kids may want to open the capsule the day after it is sealed, because patience is hard for younger children. Decide how long the capsule should be stored, and the longer the better.

It is easiest to put the capsule somewhere out of the children’s reach, or to hide it from them. The capsule should be stored in this secure location for a period of years. Generally 5-10 years is a good timeframe.

Choosing the right items to preserve memories is a lot of fun. Discuss with kids that you want to make memories and put mementos in the capsule, and ask for ideas and suggestions. Possible items include:

Small items such as toys, letters, drawings, crafts, awards, and so on. Photographs can also be included, but should be enclosed in photo-safe envelopes to store safely. You can also include DVDs or tapes you have recorded memories on, but consider how long you will be storing the capsule. Will the DVD you can easily play in your player today still work in any available technology 10 or more years in the future?

Figure out how to remind yourself of where the capsule is stored, especially if you have stored it somewhere like an attic or have buried it in the backyard. People sometimes think they will remember when the time comes to open the capsule, but ten years or more later find they have forgotten! It’s also important to have reminders in place so you remember to take the capsule with you if you move.

Remember that the time capsule is a personal keepsake for your family. Fill it with items that are meaningful for you, not with news clippings and various pieces that tell of what was happening in the world. There will always be news archives you can access for media information from the past. On the other hand, you may be the only archivist of your family’s personal histor

We crave the foods that should be most forbidden to us. Artery clogging, fat filled, high cholesterol laden, waistline busting, high blood pressure inducing foods. Why do we do this? Because they taste good and we become addicted to satisfying these cravings. You can and should retrain your body to eat and crave good for you.

What are the Worst ten foods to eat?

1. Chips: Just a couple of handfuls can pack in over 150 calories plus 3 grams of saturated fats (the unhealthy kind of fat) and 10 grams total fat.
2. Non-dairy toppings: Like Cool Whip for example. Pack with artery clogging oils the calories easily load up.
3. Doughnuts: No nutritional benefit here – just oodles of fat and carbs. One glazed doughnut can pack in 200-300 calories with up to 20grams of fat. Only 30% of our total diet should come from fat. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to about 44 to 78 grams of total fat a day, so you can see why blowing 20 grams on one doughnut is a no-no.
4. Pasta: Covered in and drenched with butter, cream and Parmesan cheese. Again, loaded in fat and calories. A portion the size of your fist, and lets be real, who is stopping at a fistful, can contain over 500+ calories and over 30 grams of total fat.
5. Sausage: Another artery clogging fat and calorie buster.
6. Fried chicken: Just one fried chicken breast has nearly 400 calories and 22 grams of fat.
7. Canned cheese: Two tablespoons have 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of which are saturated.
8. French fries: A six ounce serving contains 570 calories, half of which are from fat!
9. White bread. Like all processed foods, there is little nutritional benefit and loads of carbohydrates.
10. Soda: Loaded in sugar, calories and chemicals it simply has no place in a healthy diet.

If you want to promote your health you think to think fresh. Load up on healthy fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy and lean protein – all of which are packed with healthy and metabolism boosting fiber, vitamins and minerals.

What are the Best ten foods to eat?

It’s clear the American diet is loaded with processed foods, chemicals, fat, sugar and other ingredients that are just clearly not healthy for you. So how do you know what foods are positive and good for your health. The following is a top ten list:

1. Sweet potatoes: They’re loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.
2. Grape tomatoes: They’re packed with vitamin C and vitamin A, and you also get some fiber.
3. Skim milk: Full of calcium, vitamins, and protein with little or no artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.
4. Broccoli: Has lots of vitamin C, carotenoids, and folic acid.
5. Wild Salmon: Full of omega-3 fats it can help reduce the risk of heart attacks.
6. Whole grain bread and crackers: Loaded with fiber and often fat-free.
7. Brown Rice: Contains whole grain fiber, magnesium, vitamins E and B-6, copper, zinc, and phytochemicals.
8. Citrus Fruit: Rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber.
9. Butternut Squash: Contains loads of vitamins A and C and fiber.
10. Spinach and Kale: Packed with vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, magnesium, iron, lutein, and phytochemicals.

The common denominators in all these colon healthy fresh, unprocessed foods are fiber plus vitamins and minerals. If you want to preserve your health you need to have a healthy unprocessed diet. This in turn promotes good colon health which benefits your overall health.

A common misconception is that work-life balance is only an issue for people who have reached certain stages in life-such as having a young family or reaching the top at work-or alternatively, those who can simply no longer cope. But what about the rest of us?

A controlled work-life balance is within everyone’s grasp-and after all, surely you’ll perform better, in the exam hall and at work, if you’re happier and less stressed?

Take stock of your life

Work might take up a third of your time. But how much of your personal time do you give up to other activities (or people) about which (or whom) you care little? Many people are simply unable to say ‘no’ to friends, family and other pulls on their ‘me time’. And that either eats into the time that you can control, or else sends you to bed, exhausted and in need of far more sleep than you might otherwise need.

Everyone’s idea of the ideal work-life balance is different-but students will typically find that study time competes with personal time. Don’t ‘lump’ studies in with your hobbies, interests, and family commitments.

While study isn’t actually ‘work’ in an office sense, it’s part of your preofessional development-allow yourself time for pure enjoyment as well. Frivolous or purposeful? Doesn’t matter.

Set your objectives

Prioritisation is key. Assess the value of each activity or person that currently takes up your personal time. You may have to make decisions that will be unwelcome news to others-but remember, you’ll be of little use to anyone, including your nearest and dearest, if you are frazzled and worn out. You need that work-life balance to function.

Lists are therapeutic to put together, motivational and a useful start to getting organised. Use lists to work out what you want to spend more or less time on, as well as how and when you are going to implement your plans.

Be gentle with yourself-once you are in the driving seat, you can aim sky-high; for now, set achievable goals and throw in small rewards and treats as extra incentives to reach them. Share your goals with those you can trust not to interfere, or who can divert less empathetic parties on your behalf.

Do it now

In five minutes, everyone can scribble down atleast a few precious ambitions that they would love to pursue if needless obstacles didn’t get in the way.

So don’t wait until you have a good solid hour or you’ll never get started. Once you have invested that first five minutes, finding more time for yourself will start to look easier-and it will be.

The world is constantly communicating with you through feedback. Feedback comes in many forms and it is very helpful in moving you toward your successes, if you choose to respond to it.

Think about feedback as your goals talking back to you. When your actions are not in line with your goals, you will know it by getting results that are not in line with your goals. Your goals are telling you that you have fallen off course.

If you want to have a wonderful supportive relationship but your spouse is angry with you for neglecting your share of the household responsibilities, what do you do? Get mad at your spouse for being upset? Your goal of having a supportive relationship is telling you that you’ve gone off course. To get back on course you listen and take the appropriate action, start helping out around the house!

Therefore, it’s important to note that there really is no such thing as “negative” feedback. Feedback is simply information about your progress, about your course of action, about your abilities and attitudes. It is up to you to interpret this information to help you improve yourself and your situation.

Successful people learn to use feedback to their advantage. They put their awareness on what kind of results they get with certain actions. If the response is good, they continue. If the response is not what they want, they make adjustments. Feedback is that simple, and learning to listen to feedback and respond to feedback will keep you on track to achieve your success.

When feedback is telling you that what you are doing is not working you have a choice as to how you will respond. You can either see it as an opportunity to improve yourself and correct your behavior, or you can see it as the world ganging up on you and insulting you. You can quit trying to reach your goal when feedback keeps telling you what you’re doing isn’t working. You can get mad and criticize it right back. You can simply not listen to the feedback you are getting. But those are not effective ways to respond to the information you want to have guiding you in the appropriate direction!

So how can you become successful in dealing with feedback? The answer is to ask for it and to create a safe space for people to tell you what they are seeing. Don’t be vague about what kind of information you want. Ask for it in specific terms. Ask how you are limiting yourself, how you can improve, and what it will take to get back on course. Don’t be afraid of what you will hear. Once you know the truth, you can set about taking action to improve. Everyone will be better for it.

Make it a habit to ask for feedback!

Even when things appear to be going pretty well, there is always room for improvement. Ask how you can make things even better. When you get feedback, take an honest look at it and see if it rings true with you. Obviously, someone telling you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver could be feedback that isn’t accurate. However, if ten people tell you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver, it is probably time to re-evaluate the path you’re on.

Learn to recognize feedback for what it is. Trust your gut feeling about things, listen to what others are saying, and look at the results of your actions. Feedback is a powerful tool to keep you on the road to success.

More and more people are taking their comments, complaints and reviews of businesses to the Web. Dozens of sites are dedicated to local business reviews and ratings, and Twitter and Facebook are ready avenues for airing comments good and bad about how you’ve served your customers today.

Do you know what’s being said about you online? What are you doing to protect and manage your reputation?

For small businesses in Orangeville today, it is harder than ever to keep up with all the local online city guides and service review sites on the web.

Each one of them provides a unique opportunity to promote your local business, and many of them provide opportunity for both satisfied and dissatisfied customers to praise or critique your products and services.

If you want to enhance your visibility on the Web, and protect your reputation online, you will need to keep an eye on your listings at the ever-growing list of local review sites, and track what your customers are saying about you at all of them.

Here’s just a short list of a few of the places you should be checking:

Yahoo! Local (http://ca.local.yahoo.com)

While there doesn’t seem to be a way to update your site information, the listings come from the YellowPages and are quite comprehensive.

Because this is Yahoo!, the local search receives lots of traffic, and your business quite probably has been reviewed or rated already. Be sure to check in often and respond to any reviews, both positive and negative.

Google Local Search (http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter)

Completing a registration at Google’s Local Search page will ensure that your business is listed under relevant keyword phrases in general web searches at Google, as well as show your business at the correct location in Google Maps.

Once you complete registration and Google confirms you represent your business, you can edit your address, phone number, hours of operation, as well as create coupons and display photos and videos, all for free.

Customers can rate and review businesses as well, making it a place you absolutely need to monitor for good and bad customer reviews.

MyOrangeville (http://www.myorangeville.com)

Make sure you’re listed at this local directory. Since it doesn’t pull information from a source like the YellowPages or Gold Book, you’ll likely need to add your own information.

Listings are free, and customers can rate and review listings and the reviews left by others.

DufferinDirectory (http://www.dufferindirectory.com)

Another community directory that offers free listings for businesses in the Dufferin area, though they do charge a monthly fee to add a web link to your listing. It also allows customers to rate and review businesses.

Take the free listing, and monitor your page for reviews so you can respond to them when they appear.

Yelp (http://www.yelp.ca)

As a business owner, you should update your business information on Yelp and add photos. You can track the views to your Yelp business page, post your news and events, send private messages to customers and add photos of your business to make your listing more attractive.

Customers can rate your business from one to five stars, post reviews of your business to Yelp, add their own photos to your listing, and communicate with other reviewers.

Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.ca)

While this site will primarily interest restaurants and accommodation providers, other unique boutiques in the area will be able to promote their businesses as local attractions.

This is a very popular site and, if you are a tourist-oriented business, it is likely you will find yourself reviewed either on the site, on their Facebook app, or in the forums. Reviews from Trip Adviser are licensed to other travel sites as well, so a review here will appear on more than one Web site.

Business owners can update their listings with photos, video and descriptions. Customers can rate and review the business, as well as send messages to other reviewers.

WorldWeb.com/ReviewBlue.com (http://www.worldweb.com)

Here business owners can add their contact information, including an active web link to their site, as well as add upcoming events.

Customers can add a review of any business listed, and upload up to five photos.

Virtual Tourist (http://www.virtualtourist.com)

While the main focus of this site is again on food and lodging, there are also sections on night life, transportation, things to do, shopping, and things off the beaten track in Orangeville that will accomodate nearly every type of business listing.

Customers can submit video, photos, and tips, and members of the site can create their own town information page and/or travelogue.

Those are the major sites, but there are others as well, like:

ShopOrangeville.com
Searchon.ca
WebLocal.ca
AreaConnect.ca
DirectoryM.ca
RestaurantiCa.com
OrangevilleMenus.com
epinions.com
YLM.ca
Angie’sList.com
ReviewCentre.com
RateItAll.com
ViewPoints.com
CHOW.com
citysearch.com
getglue.com

and more…

If it seems like keeping up with all these sites could be a full time job, you’re right. That’s not even considering tracking who’s talking about you on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and on message boards.

If you’d like help updating your online listings and daily scanning of social media and local directory sites to help you protect your reputation online, contact Pairowoodies Web Development and Design in Orangeville at 519-940-3504. We’d be glad to help you design a reputation management package to suit your needs.

The symptoms of PMS affect between 50 percent and 70 percent of women, leading to the mistaken belief that it is normal. The symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome usually develop seven to fourteen days before the first day of menstruation and include:

PMS is linked to liver and bowel congestion, poor diet and lack of exercise. Hormonal imbalances are also a factor and may involve estrogen excess. Changes to diet and lifestyle,

and sometimes the addition of some supplements can effect positive change.

Deficiencies in nutrients such as magnesium, vitamins A and E and B-complex, particularly B6, can also be a factor in PMS. Those with PMS often eat more refined sugars, carbohydrates, salt and dairy. Vegetarian women tend to experience less PMS, suggesting a link with meat and dairy consumption (they contain high levels of environmental estrogens).

Health Tips to Enhance Healing

· Peri-menopause and menopause can be a time when women experience the most severe PMS symptoms.

· Have your thyroid checked. Low thyroid hormone levels create severe PMS symptoms.

· Eliminate all xenoestrogens from the diet and home.

· Cut back on caffeine from all sources (chocolate, soda pop, coffee and black tea). Drink herbal tea.

· A high-fiber diet with plenty of organic fruits and vegetables helps to eliminate excess estrogen.

· Eat only organic meats, and eliminate dairy from the diet. Both contain high amounts of environmental estrogens.

· Meditation, exercise and acupuncture are techniques help reduce the symptoms of PMS. Love yourself. Get plenty of rest. You do not have to be the “super” mom, wife and employee.

· Look for books by Lorna Vanderhaege and Dr. Christiane Northrup, experts in the area of Women’s Hormonal Health

Kathy Shackleton